Zambia, Zimbabwe to build joint power plant in 2020

Zambia and Zimbabwe will start building a 2,400 MW Batoka Gorge hydro power plant next year, a company jointly owned by the two governments said on Tuesday.

A statement by the two governments in Lusaka said that feasibility studies were almost complete and a developer for the project was expected to be engaged by the end of this year.

“Once engaged, the developer is expected to commence works in the last quarter of 2020,’’ the statement said.

The Batoka project involves the construction of a dam, powerhouses, roads, transmission infrastructure and houses in Zambia and Zimbabwe, the Zambezi River Authority (ZRA) said in a statement.

In February, ZRA short-listed U.S, European and Chinese companies to build the Batoka Gorge hydro power plant, Zambia’s ministry of finance said in statement.

Those short-listed are a consortium of General Electric and Power Construction Corporation of China, Salini Impregilo of Italy and a joint venture of Chinese firms Three Gorges Corporation, China International and Water Electric Corporation and China Gezhouba Group Company Ltd.

The project will use a Build-Operate-Transfer financing model and place no fiscal strain on either government as no sovereign guarantees will be required.

(Reuters/NAN)